NY Time feature on working for Amazon (Seattle, Redmond: groceries, stats)

[Cedarling]

Originally Posted by amaiunmei

Stack ranking technically died on Ballmer's watch:

Microsoft Kills Its Hated Stack Rankings. Does Anyone Do Employee Reviews Right? - Businessweek

I think a lot of the reason why had to do with recruitment. This happened as Amazon's rise began in earnest; with a competitor in their backyard, they had to do something to keep from losing out.

This is all accurate. Microsoft also announced a few weeks ago that they were changing benefits for paternity and maternity leave as well in order to remain competitive in attracting talent. They now offer 5 months of leave for women and 12 weeks for fathers. Mothers also have the option to go back at half-time after their leave is over.

As a Microsoft employee, the review process has been positive. My coworkers are not backstabbers and in general, I would consider it a challenging and great working environment. Having worked at a lot of big name employers across different industries, I consider MS my favorite over beloved employers such as REI. Even though there is a lot of pressure to perform well, I don't foresee myself getting burnt out. Balance is dependent on your team similar to Amazon.

I met up with a former college classmate for lunch a few years ago when he had just started working for Amazon. He had left Microsoft because his team was ultra-competitive and toxic. He's now been at Amazon for a few years so it must be tolerable?

Amazon has had a reputation for being slave-drivers ever since I can remember (dating pre-SLU, when they were headquartered in an old hospital building). I've had Amazon recruiters contact me, however, I'm leary of their reputation and the traffic is terrible in SLU. I worked 2 blocks from I-5 two years ago and every day I would have to force my way into the onramp line amidst angry, honking drivers despite the fact I was pulling out of a parking lot and wasn't cutting in line.

[Xanathos]

I should probably point out that stack ranking is only dead in name. I have it on very good authority that the practice itself is still very much alive, it's just done on the down low now and with a little more sleight of hand.

[mike62pp3]

Originally Posted by Xanathos

I should probably point out that stack ranking is only dead in name. I have it on very good authority that the practice itself is still very much alive, it's just done on the down low now and with a little more sleight of hand.

Are you referring to the "slider"?

[CityWok]

There were a few teams that did it on the down low last fiscal year (after they announced that stack ranking was gone) but HR has since put out a strict mandate for the next review cycle which would keep any teams from doing it going forward.

[mike62pp3]

For those still skeptical about the Amazon stories, read through the comments on this Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/com...r_amazon_is_a/

[CityWok]

What amazes me most is that Jeff Bezos likes to look at things objectively. The cigarette smoking example is a perfect reflection of this. Yet he does not see the most obvious statistic. Employee retention: the average Amazon employee leaves the company in less than 2 years. That's absolutely astounding.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by CityWok

What amazes me most is that Jeff Bezos likes to look at things very objectively. The cigarette smoking example is the perfect reflection of this. Yet he does not see the most obvious statistic. Employee retention, one of the lowest of any tech company. On average, the Amazon employee leaves in less than 2 years. Uh, HELLO

Here's the unfortunate thing about Amazon, they move so many people here and those people leave Amazon after a year or two. Do they leave Seattle? No, they stay.

[CityWok]

Not necessarily. Seattle is known to be a pretty transient city for this very reason.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by CityWok

Not necessarily. Seattle is known to be a pretty transient city for this very reason.

I would like to see the data on that.

Washington’s population tops 7 million

OLYMPIA, WA – Washington’s population increased considerably in the past year. Annual
estimates prepared by the Office of Financial Management show the state’s population increased
by 93,200 to 7,061,400 between 2014 and 2015. This 1.34 percent gain — up from 1.25 percent
in 2014 — marks the largest annual increase since 2008.
Washington’s population has been growing at an increasing rate, driven largely by migration.

http://www.ofm.wa.gov/pop/april1/ofm...ss_release.pdf

[CityWok]

Right, but all that proves is that currently, input is greater than output. It doesn't mean people aren't leaving.

Seattle isn't the only place for tech. It's not even the best. It's merely one of the many growing cities. Some will flock to Silicon Valley, Austin, Charlotte, New York, etc. Don't forget the Californians, Chinese, etc. all contribute to the growing number.